American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels and Scandals Season 12 Episode 7 Blood Relatives / End of Life Scam

In season 12, episode 7 of American Greed: Scams, Scoundrels, and Scandals, viewers are exposed to the dark world of blood relatives and end-of-life scams. The episode dives into the intricate web of deceit that certain individuals weave in order to defraud their own family members or exploit vulnerable elderly patients.

The episode begins with the story of a family in Houston, Texas who have been running a healthcare business for years and have made a fortune from exploiting elderly patients. The family members conspire with medical professionals to prescribe unnecessary treatments or procedures, all while bilking Medicare and Medicaid out of millions of dollars.

The family patriarch, Charles Davis, is the mastermind behind the scheme, and he enlists his own son and daughter to help him. In a series of interviews, the victims of this scam share their stories of how they were lied to and how their health was worsened as a result of the fraud. Many of these patients were coerced into signing documents they did not understand or were physically restrained in order to undergo treatments they did not need.

The show then turns to the story of a Florida man who scams his own family members out of millions of dollars. Barry Hunt, the eldest son of a wealthy family, creates fake investment opportunities and convinces his father and brother to invest huge sums of money with the promise of high returns. But instead of investing the money, Hunt uses it to fund his lavish lifestyle, buying expensive cars and homes and going on wild gambling sprees.

The episode highlights the psychological manipulation Hunt used to convince his own family members to trust him, even as he was defrauding them. He uses their love for him and their belief in his supposed financial expertise to keep the scam going for years. Despite eventually being caught and serving time in prison, Hunt's family is still struggling to recover the money he stole from them.

The final story of the episode focuses on a particularly horrifying type of scam, the end-of-life scam. These schemes involve individuals who prey on elderly people who are at the end of their lives, often with no family or support system in place. These scammers insert themselves into the lives of these vulnerable individuals, pretending to be their caretaker or friend, all while draining them of their life savings.

The episode follows the case of a woman named Helen Golay, who convinced two homeless men to pretend to be her husband and boyfriend, before killing them and trying to claim their life insurance policies. Through interviews with law enforcement officers and experts in the field of elder abuse, the episode sheds light on the scope of this problem and the difficulties in detecting and prosecuting these kinds of crimes.

Throughout the episode, American Greed explores the various systems and regulatory structures in place to prevent and investigate fraud, as well as the psychological factors that can contribute to these kinds of scams. The show aims to expose these crimes and the individuals perpetrating them, while also warning viewers about the signs that someone might be trying to scam them or their loved ones.